Day #334 – Kingston, NY

We were out on the water at 7:00 this morning after a peaceful night in Tarrytown.  This lighthouse sits in the Hudson River just outside the marina.

Today we traveled up the Hudson to Kingston, 64 miles.

The water was especially calm in the morning as we passed under one of several bridges.

West Point Military Academy sits on the western shore of the Hudson.  It was built on a hillside and is lovely.

The hills are green and striking.  It reminds me in places of Canada and Michigan.

If you look in the bottom right corner of the photo below you will be a commercial building which gives you a perspective as to how large some of these hills are.

It is fairly remote in places, but you pass many small towns all clustered around their waterfront.  Below is Newburgh, NY.

This is the main building of the Culinary Institute of America.  It sits high on a hill overlooking the Hudson River.

The Middle Hudson Lighthouse…

and the Rondout Creek Lighthouse. I never knew there were so many styles of lighthouses.

Our destination is Rondout Yacht Basin in Kingston.

Today is our lucky day, look who’s right behind us.

About 10 minutes after we got tied up the rain and lightning began.  Glad to be at the dock and secure after a beautiful day on the water.  Timing is everything.

Day #333 – Tarrytown, NY

We decided to leave New York City a little later than usual to attempt to make the currents work in our favor.   To make the most of the morning Patti and I took the water taxi across the channel to Jersey City since she had not seen it before.   We walked around a bit and took in the area.  Below she is taking pictures for her blog.  For a blogger, your work is never done.

We left about 11:00 and headed out into the busy harbor.  Again the ferries, water taxis, fire department and Coast Guard boats were everywhere.  Oh no, not again…

Salvage Crew was boarded by the USCG doing their routine training.  They got a “get out of inspection free” pass since they had just completed one earlier in the week.   We, on the other hand, were not as lucky.

They pulled up along side Good News and asked if we had been boarded by the Coast Guard recently for inspection.  When we told them we had not, they asked for permission to board and hopped on.  We showed them our US Power Squadron Inspection work sheet and sticker and that expedited the process.  We had that done in October at the AGLCA Rendezvous and we would suggest it to any and all boaters.  Glad to report we passed with flying colors and they were on their way quickly.  They were all extremely polite, courteous and handsome.  You have to wonder if that might not be part of the screening process !?!?!  We thanked them for their service and commitment to keeping our country safe.

Note the machine gun mounted on the bow.  A tad intimidating even when you know you are not in violation of anything.

This is the perspective watching from Salvage Crew (thanks Patti for the photo).  Never a dull moment on the water!

It was a quick 27 miles to Tarrytown up the Hudson River.  We passed under two well known bridges along the route.

The George Washington Bridge

and the Tappan Zee Bridge.

We will be staying at Tarrytown Marina just past the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Tarrytown is a bedroom commuter town where people commute into New York City.

We will be staying just one night and up and out in the morning.  It feels good to back on the move again.

Day #332 – New York City, NY

This old lightship is permanently docked at our marina and used as offices, rest rooms and showers.  It even has an ATM inside.  Its original function was to be a movable lighthouse and used where needed.

And look who arrived this morning into New York Harbor, Salvage Crew.

We were there to meet them not only with the camera, but open arms.  So glad they are repaired and underway again.

Andy and I took the water taxi back over to Manhattan at 11:00.  Today we were to do the Uptown Manhattan tour.  The route was altered several times today because the “Gay Pride” parade was going down 5th Avenue all day.  Fun to watch but certainly congested traffic in an already congested city.

We passed the infamous Waldorf Astoria.  At this time it is home to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

And a few more of the recognizable sites we saw were Rockefeller Center…

The Rainbow Room…

Radio City Music Hall…

Time Warner Building…

and a famous deli.

Our tour took us up Broadway overlooking Central Park the entire distance.

Some other sites included the Trump Building globe outside of Trump Towers…

and many other high end residences including The Dakota where John Lennon lived.

There were many beautiful churches along the tour today.

as well as museums.

An interesting part of the trip took us through Harlem.  This particular bridge has been used in many movie chase scenes.

And of course the infamous Apollo Theater.  Many people had gathered outside to sing and dance and celebrate the life of Michael Jackson which ended so suddenly last week.

After leaving Harlem we traveled down Fifth Avenue past many spectacular homes and finally the Plaza Hotel.

These were a couple of sights that we found interesting…

a policeman texting…

storing in sin?…

a high-end CVS…

and lastly, ahhh home.

We ended another wonderful day in New York Harbor with dinner aboard Salvage Crew.  Life is good!

Day #331 – New York City, NY

Last night we took the water taxi from the marina across the river to Jersey City, NJ for dinner.

Fortunately, we were inside the restaurant just as the storm hit.  We had a great time, but even more impressive was the cloud formation we were treated to on the way back.  This type of cloud is called mammatus.  We had never seen them before and they were amazing.

We sat on the flybridge of the boat after we got back and watched the city come alive at night.  What a site.

This morning we were back on the water taxi and headed across the Hudson River

for Lower Manhattan.  They drop you off in The Battery.  It was a perfect day for sightseeing as it was sunny, breezy and 82 degrees.

We stopped at the NYC Police Memorial.  It really took your breath away to see all of the names from September 11, 2001.

As we made our way to Battery Park there were neighborhood gardens everywhere as well as dog parks and playgrounds.  Local residents maintain little areas within each garden.

At Battery Park we started our double-decker bus tour of Lower Manhattan.  I will attempt to highlight some of the areas we saw.

Chinatown…

Chrysler Building (with the spire)…

Central Park South…

Carnegie Hall…

Part of the Theater District…

Note what looks like little Academy Award statues lined up in the window…

Times Square…

Note the crystal ball that drops on New Year’s Eve…

New York City Post Office…

The Empire State Building…

Macy’s which happens to have 2.2 million square feet…

The Flat Iron Building…

New York Supreme Court Building where “Law and Order” is filmed…

The Seaport District…

The Brooklyn Bridge…

A walk up Wall Street…

And last but not least, the somber site of the World Trade Center…

By order of the Port Authority you were not allowed to take pictures above or below the fence and not between the gates.

It was extremely moving and we plan to return tomorrow and take the personally guided tour of the Visitor Center.

There are also just a few assorted pictures that I thought were worth sharing.

Second runner up…a bride and groom seated mid-day across from the New York Stock Exchange????

First runner up…a gentleman hangs from the hooks on this top of this building and paints a new sign every couple of months.

And the winner is…

A fellow boater was kind enough to take a picture of Good News cruising in front of the Statue of Liberty yesterday and email it to us…priceless.

Day #330 – New York City, NY

We thought this was a funny sign at the marina boat ramp.  Guess they get their point across.

It just didn’t feel right this morning at 7:00 as we left Manasquan…without Salvage Crew.

They need further repairs to their exhaust system and will find out later today when the fix can be made.  The conditions for our last day out on the ocean were perfect so we made the decision to head to New York City and wait for them on the other side.

It was a calm day on the water with just rollers and no real waves, very comfortable.  Unfortunately, the skies were cloudy and there was a fair amount of haze which made visibility tough.

We crossed from the North Atlantic Ocean into Long Island Sound at 9:30.  We have officially completed our time on the Atlantic Ocean and glad to report we are no worse for the wear.  Immediately we picked up about two miles per hour with the current.

The sights of the city began to come into view through the haze.

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge comes into view.  The commercial ship traffic does as well.

It is hard to believe that we are sitting in front of the Statue of Liberty on our own boat.  What a dream come true.

As we sat in front of the statue we played the National Anthem and again realized how proud we are to be Americans.  Note the people standing at the bottom of the picture to get a perspective on the size of the statue.

The Staten Island Ferry passes in front of us.  Water taxis are everywhere.

Ellis Island is off our port side.

As we head up the Hudson River

we pass this yacht named Le Grand Bleu, a 370 foot mega yacht.

Note in the picture it has a 74-foot sailboat and a 67-foot speedboat stored behind the sailboat on her aft deck.  She also makes room for a helicopter, a life boat and has a crew of 50.

In 2002, Le Grande Bleu was sold to Russian billionaire and owner of Chelsea Football Club Roman Abramovich. In 2006, Roman Abramovich presented her as a gift to old friend Eugene Shvidler, an asset-management and one-time oil Russian billionaire.   Nice friend.  It is currently the 10th largest yacht in the world.

We pulled into Liberty Landing Marina.  This is the view off the bow of Good News.

This is the view out of our starboard pilot house door.

There is so much to see and do we are a bit overwhelmed.  Time to get on the water taxi and go exploring.  We still can’t believe we are in New York City.

Day #329 – Manasquan, NJ

Cape May to Manasquan…Take Two.  We pulled away from the docks again this morning at 6:00 with Salvage Crew.  Their repairs are complete and we will try this again.

The morning began a little rough. As you can see in the picture below the inlet was rough and traffic was fairly heavy.  The current is always very strong in these areas as the water rushes in and out from the ocean.

About four hours after we left we passed Atlantic City.  This is the view, this time from the ocean side.

The seas for the first two hours were quite rough and we were glad everything was securely tied down.  After that the seas flattened right out and it was as smooth and uneventful as one can wish for when you travel 100 miles out in the ocean.

We were pleasantly surprised by the New Jersey shoreline.  It just stretches on and on.  It is nice to see people using their beach and enjoying the ocean.

Another surprise was the abundance of mylar balloons.  We must have seen at least thirty along the way on our 100 mile trip.  I guess what goes up must come down and around here they land in the ocean.  It is really a shame as we have all seen pictures of what damage they can do to our sea life. I don’t think I will ever buy one again after seeing that.

We arrived at our destination, Manasquan, NJ, about 4:00. The tides and currents were unbelievable.  This is a picture of Salvage Crew entering the inlet.  The boat traffic was busy and the waters were churning.

The beaches are busy in this area.

It now appears that we have left the crabbers and are seeing lobstermen.

We will be staying for the night at Brielle Marine Basin. It was extremely tough backing into our slip as the tides and currents running through here are really strong.  Andy did another masterful job and we are tied up securely.

We are pleased to have that leg behind us.  Hopefully it will be clear sailing into New York City tomorrow.

A nice dinner out at the Sand Bar after a long, but wonderful, day on the water.

Day #328 – Cape May, NJ

Last night we were pleased to have Susan and John Hague stop by for a visit.

We had met them in Ft. Pierce and they live about an hour from Cape May.  It was great to see them and spend time together again.

This morning we cast off our lines at 6:00 am and headed out to Manasquan.

It started out as a great day on the water.  There were rollers but they were only about two feet and not uncomfortable.   About an hour into the trip Brad radioed us that they were taking on water.  They had about a foot of water in their bilge and their alarm had gone off.  Their bilge pump was not working.  No sooner had they radioed us than the Coast Guard was hailing us to give our exact location, asking the number of people on board, what kind of boat they were on, did they look like they were sinking, etc.  They dispatched a boat from the Cape May station and they arrived about ten minutes later.  I am constantly amazed at their professionalism.  They asked for permission to board Salvage Crew and one of the YOUNG men climbed aboard.

By now their starboard engine was really smoking and they had to shut it down and run on just the port engine.  The Coast Guard asked permission to bring their high volume pump aboard.  They did, but apparently they had a leak in the fuel line and it wouldn’t work.  So, back to basics and the Tupperware bowls came in handy.

Salvage Crew led the way with the Coast Guard following them and Good News behind them.

Brad and Patti skillfully maneuvered the boat back into the marina on one engine.  It is a somewhat tough approach even with two engines, but they did beautifully.

So, welcome safely back to Utsch’s Marina.

Safely in the lift we all breathed a sigh of relief.

These three young men were extremely professional and courteous.  They certainly make their country and its citizens proud.

They pulled out and went back to their base across the harbor.  Just another day at the office.  The Cape May Coast Guard station is where all recruits do their basic training.

This flag flies at the parasail outfit right in front of our boat.  It seems to sum up the day fairly well…

Day #327 – Cape May, NJ

We have enjoyed our time in Cape May even if it has been a little longer than originally planned.  Utsch’s Marine is a family run marina and they are very hospitable, accommodating and friendly.  This lighthouse is at the entrance to the marina.

This morning a little boy was on our dock trying to catch crabs.  He finally succeeded, but hope he asn’t planning on having it for dinner as he might starve.

Patti and I spent a good part of the morning planning our stops after we reach Manasquan, NJ.  We hope to make that 100 mile trip tomorrow.  If all goes as planned, the following day we will be in New York City.

After lunch we rode our bikes up to the Lobster House Fish Market which is attached to the Lobster House Restaurant.  They had fabulous selections and I bought fresh scallops and crab meat.  Patti bought smoked scallops and mahi mahi.  Looks like we have a few more good dinners in our future.

Andy and Brad spent the day doing odd jobs on their boats as we will be on the move for the next few days.  While we are in New York City we want to spend our time exploring, not fixing and finishing.  We plan to cast off our lines at 6:00 am.  Here’s hoping for calm seas out on the Atlantic Ocean.

Day #326 – Cape May, NJ

We are still waiting for the weather to improve.  So we are still in Cape May and decided to go out for more exploring at 9:00 this morning.

Our first stop was the Cape May lighthouse.  It was built in 1859, was automated in 1946, and continues operation to this day.  The tower is 157 feet 6 inches tall, from the ground to the tower’s cast iron spiral staircase. There are 217 steps from the ground to the top, with 199 steps in the tower’s cast iron spiral staircase.  We decided not to climb to the top.

The beach is expansive there and many bike and hiking trails run through the area.

Then we drove back to the boardwalk area.  This time we walked along their boardwalk and saw the ocaen front.  Interestingly, they charge to get onto the beach.  Guess that is one way to support it.

Little huts are available to screen you from the wind and sun, of which there wasn’t much again today.  This whale and dolphin watching boat went by.  Wonder if they saw anything.

These beautiful houses must need constant maintenance.  This guy was on the tiny roof three stories up.  No thanks.

You can see how high they were up.

This lovely home is named May West.

We then drove to the Fishermen’s Memorial overlooking the Cape May Harbor.  It is a statue of a women and two small children looking out into the harbor where the fishing boats return from the sea.  The memorial honors those who never returned.

On June 20th they held a memorial service and six new names were added to the wall. The ceremony was to honor the six scallop fishermen who lost their lives on March 24, 2009 about 75 miles off shore.  Their boat, named Lady Mary, began taking on water about 5:00 am and by 7:30 it had sunk.  Two of the fishermen were found alive in the water.  One later died so there was only one survivor.  Seven men left and only one returned.  The Smith family lost two sons and their uncle.  Such boats routinely bring in up to 18,000 pounds of scallops after a week at sea.  It hit this area particularly hard as many of their livlihoods are based in the fishing industry.

In the afternoon a diver named CJ came to the boat to replace the zincs.  He was a nice young man and replaced all six zincs.

The good news was that the props and bottom paint are all in great condition.  That is always a relief.

Day #325 – Cape May, NJ

Happy Father’s Day to all!

We decided to take advantage of the non-boat-travel day and the rental car and drove to Atlantic City.  We all wanted to see the boardwalk and the casinos we had heard so much about.

Since it looks like we will be in Cape May a few more days, we will probably chose to bypass Atlantic City and go to Manasquan instead.  It will be a loooooong day, but we hope to make up a little time.

The Atlantic City boardwalk seems to be “Trump” City.  His presence is everywhere.

Trump’s Casino is absolutely beautiful inside and it is enormous.

We walked through and decided to come back after lunch.  We found a little spot along the boardwalk that served Greek food.  It was tiny, but the food was delicious.

The mode of transportation on the Boardwalk is “man-powered”.  They charge $5 for five blocks.  Patti noted that they had their “rain coats” on today.

We walked up and down the boardwalk.  There were so many sights and sounds.

This was the New Jersey Korean War Memorial.

They have an amusement park.

Some of the people were a little different.

After our tour we went back to the Trump casino to try our luck.  Andy was our “body guard” as the stakes were huge.  I played $20 and cashed out at $50.  That is the first time I have EVER won in a casino and I decided to take my winnings and run.

Brad and Patti were a little luckier.  Sorry Donald Trump, but we took YOUR money today.

Another thing we have noticed since we have been in this area.  Their sea gulls are different than ours.  They have black heads and are even more brazen than the ones we are used to seeing.  Looks like this one just finished his cigarette.

On our way back to our boat we drove around to look at their marinas since we wouldn’t be there by boat.  Trump charges $4 per foot and the place was nowhere near the boardwalk and we were glad to have seen Atlantic City the way we did.  A nice Father’s Day, although I would never have thought Andy would spend one in a casino.

He heard from both of his boys.

He had a well deserved Happy Father’s Day.

After a fabulous dinner of hot dogs and baked beans (nothing is too good for our Captains!) we were even treated to a great sunset.

Ahhh, life is good!